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To Those Who Alter, Use, & Claim/Tag MY Copyrighted Pix as Your own...
First of all Get an effin Life and Take Your OWN pix to toy with!!! The person(s) in the photos have every right to display them, but not to alter them. I honestly don't mind so much with Certain random photos, but there are certain sets in particular that were set and posed specifically for use in projects I concieved, designed and created. I've seen these photos altered, tagged, and displayed by SOMEBODY else trying to take credit for My work.
Read it and weep - Stop altering My Work WITHOUT MY PERMISSION
YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE, AND YOU DO NOT HAVE MY PERMISSION and Won't - EVER. I find it to be Very disrespectful to take my work and alter parts of it and then stick YOUR tag on it claiming it to be your own. I'm a Professional Photographer/Digital Imager, And the copyrights to the pix I Took are OWNED by Me - NOT the person(s) In the photos. I put a lot of work into some of the Photography and Graphics I've done and this included making certain people look good in the photos I took, I don't appreciate people tearing apart my work and then Claiming it to be Their Own Work complete with tagging it. Take your tags off My photography and take your own pix. Too bad they won't be as good as mine - even my Cell Phone shots, but GTF Over it. I know a lot of people that do photography and graphic work and they agree with me.
Here's a little info from the copyright office where I have my trademark registered for about 10 years now:
Any photograph (or drawing or song) is protected by copyright immediately upon creation, automatically. You used to have to register your photo with the government to receive these rights, and it's still a good idea for images likely to be at risk of disputes, but it's not a requirement anymore.
If you take the picture, you own the copyright on that picture. The exception to this is if you have been hired to take the pictures in the first place, in which case your contract may spell out that the hiring party may own the copyrights.
Whomever owns the copyright can copy the image. This includes making printouts, enlargements, reprints, and derivative works or alterations from the image.
Also, the copyright owner can license other parties to have specific legal rights to the image. For example, if you sell a photograph to a magazine, the magazine would need a license to reprint it in a certain month's issue, and unless otherwise stipulated, they could not include it in online publications or sell it to somebody else.
Copyright and Ownership of Photographs When There is No Model Release
The photographer owns the copyright to the photos because they are a creation or work of art of the photographers. The copyright in essence says the photographer owns the photographs but does not give the photographer a license to use (sell) those photos commercially. This is where a model release comes in. In a model release, the model is granting a license for the photos to be used for profit commercially.
Without a model release, both the photographer and the model can use the photos in their portfolios. The photographer can sell prints of the photos for non-commercial use. Many models think that they can also sell prints of the photos, but they cannot because they do not own the copyright. Models also cannot alter the photographs because they do not own the copyright. If a model wants to sell or alter a photograph that is copyrighted by a photographer, they must get the photographers permission.
An Exception - When the Model Owns the Copyright
If the model hires and pays the photographer to take his or her pictures than the model owns the copyright to the photographs. In the situation where the model hires the photographer, the photographer is being paid for a service and is not the copyright holder. Because the model owns the copyright and is the subject of the photograph, the model can choose to sell the photos in any way they wish.
How much do I have to change in order to claim copyright in someone else's work?
Only the owner of copyright in a work has the right to prepare, or to authorize someone else to create, a new version of that work. Accordingly, you cannot claim copyright to another's work, no matter how much you change it, unless you have the owner's consent.
What is a copyright notice? How do I put a copyright notice on my work?
A copyright notice is an identifier placed on copies of the work to inform the world of copyright ownership that generally consists of the symbol or word “copyright (or copr.),” the name of the copyright owner, and the year of first publication, e.g., ©2008 John Doe. While use of a copyright notice was once required as a condition of copyright protection, it is now optional. Use of the notice is the responsibility of the copyright owner and does not require advance permission from, or registration with, the Copyright Office.
Fraudulent Removal of Copyright Notice. — Any person who, with fraudulent intent, removes or alters any notice of copyright appearing on a copy of a copyrighted work shall be fined not more than $2,500.
What is copyright infringement?
As a general matter, copyright infringement occurs when a copyrighted work is reproduced, altered, distributed, performed, publicly displayed, or made into a derivative work without the permission of the copyright owner. Copyright infringement, as defined by Wikipedia.org, states: "Copyright infringement (or copyright violation) is the unauthorized use of material that is protected by intellectual property rights law particularly the copyright in a manner that violates one of the original copyright owner's exclusive rights, such as the right to reproduce or perform the copyrighted work, or to make derivative works that build upon it.
So, what is copyright infringement in plain English? It means if you're not allowed to use something, then don't use it -- plain and simple. It can be very simple to get permission to use a work -- many times you'll be able to use a "sample" of music or an excerpt of writing for a nominal fee, or a small attribution. However, if you do not have the permission of the copyright holder -- whether it's an author, photographer, artist, or a publishing house -- you can be sued for copyright infringement or worse.
Look Familliar? Too bad some of the pix are tagged in ways that make it difficult to remove more than Part of my TM if at all. And that's because nobody should be removing it in the first place!
